Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are important members of the human vaginal microbiota and their presence is considered beneficial. However, little is known about native vaginal bacteria in other animal species such as the horse. The aim of this work was to quantify the vaginal lactic acid bacteria and lactobacilli of mares and to establish if selected equine vaginal lactic acid bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus and Enterococcus spp. strains, could exhibit potential as probiotics. The vaginal lactic acid bacteria and lactobacilli of 26 mares were quantified by plate counts. Five strains (three Lactobacillus spp. and two Enterococcus spp.) were characterised and adhesion to vaginal epithelial cells, antimicrobial activity and ability to form biofilms were evaluated. Lactic acid bacteria were recovered from the 26 samples and lactobacilli counts were detected in 18 out of 26 mares (69%). Probiotic properties tested in this study varied among the isolates and showed promising features for their use as equine probiotics.

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Background: For the conclusive diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome, a stimulating ACTH test or a low suppressive Dexamethasone test is used. Reports in other species than the dog indicate that plasma cortisol concentration after ACTH administration is affected by gender. We investigated the effect of gender on the cortisol response to ACTH and Dexamethasone tests in dogs.

Five of 16 cats belonging to the same owner were brought to the veterinary hospital because of a 30-day history of signs of intense pruritus and alopecic and erythematous areas with bloody crusts. Notoedric mange was diagnosed and confirmed by microscopic examination of skin scrapings of all 5 cats. The remaining cats did not have clinical signs of mange, and Notoedres cati were not observed after microscopic examination of skin scrapings. A decision was made to treat all 16 cats with doramectin subcutaneously. In each cat, 0.1 ml of a 1% solution of doramectin was administered s.c. Body weights ranged from 2.9 to 7.1 kg (6.4 to 14.2 lb) in the 16 cats and the final doses varied from 143 to 345 micrograms/kg (65 to 157 micrograms/lb) of body weight, with a mean (+/- SD) of 270.4 +/- 64 micrograms/kg (122.9 +/- 29.1 micrograms/lb). The mean dose for the 5 affected cats was 292.2 +/- 44.8 micrograms/kg (132.8 +/- 20.4 micrograms/lb), with a range of 208 to 333 micrograms/kg (94.6 to 151.4 micrograms/lb). Lesions began to recede 1 week after treatment. Fifteen days after treatment, all 5 affected cats were clinically normal. Findings in our cats suggest that a single mean dose of doramectin of approximately 290 micrograms/kg is sufficient to control notoedric mange in cats.

We examined the cerebellum and cerebrum of 4 vaccinated dogs, 3–60-mo-old, that displayed clinical signs of canine distemper virus (CDV) infection, and died 7–40 d after developing neurologic signs. The main histologic lesions were demyelination, gliosis, meningitis, perivascular lymphocytic cuffing, and inclusion bodies. These lesions were similar in all 4 cases regardless of the time since vaccination, except that meningoencephalitis and gliosis were subacute in 3 dogs and chronic in 1 dog. However, these differences did not appear to be related to their vaccination status. Immunohistologically, a CDV-positive immunoreaction was seen mainly in astrocytes, neurons and their axons, lymphocytes around and in the blood vessels of the pia mater and choroid plexus, ependymal cells of each ventricle, and the cells of the choroid plexus. The histologic and immunohistologic changes were similar in the cerebellum and cerebrum. The genetic characterization of the virus strains in 2 of these naturally occurring canine distemper cases confirmed that they were South American wild-type strains (Kiki and Uy251) belonging to the EU1/SA1 lineage. These strains are not included in the commercial CDV vaccines available in Uruguay.